Volunteering in 2018? We could use help on or off the committee. Some general help but also from geeks, from publicists and programmers.

UPCOMING EVENTS for HILLWALKERS

MOUNTAINVIEWS: Hillwalkers' Winter Talks

REPORT: 17th Jan John Cruise spoke on the Camino Via de la Plata Talk and, as previously, the talk was extremely interesting describing how the quieter Camino Via De La Plata is a great, interesting alternative to the Camino de Santiago.

Jim Bradley spoke on Belfast Walking Jim Bradley, the Partnership Manager of Belfast Hills Partnership spoke about places, routes and sights mostly to the west of the city.

REPORT: 23rd Feb MountainViews Gathering and Awards.

Dermot Somers broadcaster and explorer spoke in his inimitable style on "CROSS-COUNTRY: A VIEW FROM ABOVE"

Mountain Meitheal
Shay Walsh, chairman, spoke on Mountain Meitheal.

There was the usual brief review of MountainViews innovation for 2017 and an Awards ceremony for list completers and contributors to hillwalking or to MountainViews.ie

There will be a fuller report with photos in the next newsletter.
Some copies of the Summit Annual are still available after the meeting, though many were sold.

Weds, 11th April, 2018. 8pm. David Walsh on the Islands of Ireland

MacDara's Island, Galway

Our main speaker for this event, David Walsh, addressed Hillwalkers Winter Talks in 2015 to an audience of over 70 with a spellbinding account of visiting the islands of Ireland. Since then MountainViews.ie has with David's assistance added hundreds of islands to our pages, a total of 577.
The Irish islands are of course a huge recreational resource for sea-kayakers, however some are reachable by walkers and their story is fascinating to anyone interested in the wild places of Ireland.

While the main speaker will be David, MountainViews will briefly introduce the changes it has made to its support for islands and also the coastline features we include. These allow users to mark which islands (as distinct from summits on islands) they have visited, to describe places, to share GPS tracks and visualise everything together on a map, features that may interest boaters or sea kayakers.

These meetings are being organised by the MountainViews committee. Talks are held in the Lansdowne Hotel, 27 - 29 Pembroke Road, Dublin 4 unless otherwise stated. Entry is free unless otherwise stated. There is a collection. Directions here www.lansdownehotel.ie .
The excellent bar facilities allow you to have a drink with other hillwalkers after the event. You can get a meal before the meeting also. Should you wish to stay overnight then please consider staying with the Lansdowne.
MOUNTAIN MEITHEAL: Mountain Meitheal are keen to find more people to help.

Mountain Meitheal make practical repairs to some of the more popular areas we walk on, using a voluntary community based approach. (More information at their website.)

**NOTE** There will be a presentation by Mountain Meitheal at our Feb 23rd meeting.

This month's selection is a winter walk to the unfashionable summit of Farscallop in the otherwise somewhat fashionable Glenveagh National Park. This is a relatively easy half day that looks arrestingly across the glen to the supremely wild Dooish-Slieve Snaght knot of hills...an ideal trip for an expert photographer such as Aidy. Well worth a look for those who have temporarily had their fill of Errigal.is the first of a series of tracks uploaded by mlmoroneybb detailing days spent on the initial section of the Beara-Breifne Way (http://www.bbgreenway.com/), a 500km route from the tip of the Beara peninsula to Blacklion on the border between Cavan and Fermanagh way to the north. This could be tackled as a single multi-week outing or piecemeal as is the case here, and is an interesting addition to Ireland's relatively small amount of long-distance paths.

Aidy on Farscallop

Main walk Start: 12:06, End: 16:00, Duration: 3h54m, Length: 8.3km,Ascent: 273m, Descent: 271mPlaces: Start at B97116 15881, Farscallop, end at Start (statistics such as Ascent or Length etc should be regarded as approximate. Duration depends on the speed of the person making the track)

My last walk of the year in 2017, and I was lucky enough to get some snow cover, adding to the already dramatic views to be had from this small hill. I started from the R254 road where the track forming the back entrance to Glenveagh National Park starts. The walk could certainly be done quicker than the time I posted as I spent a lot of time admiring the views and taking photographs.After reaching the summit, I walked beyond it a little way to the northeast for the views over Lough Beagh and Glenveagh Castle. On the return leg, I also stayed to the northwest of the summit for better views of the valley separating the Glendowan and Derryveagh Mountains, and the steep slopes of this side of the Derryveagh Mountains.

A view back towards the starting point on the road below.

Errigal making an appearance.

At the summit cairn.

Views across to the Derryveagh Mountains.

A last view of the sunset on the way down.

NORTH: No Tain No Gain
The relatively recent Historical addition of Barnavore sits near Slieve Foye above the splendid Carlingford village and Lough, a fine objective for simon3. The ascent is never steep (although the terrain near Slieve Foye's summit is complex) and the prospects over the Lough are almost unimaginably wild for something about 15 minutes from Newry. There are more summits to the north that could be linked, but a descent in this direction is noted as being navigationally challenging (it's steep and craggy high up, and densely vegetated lower down).
simon3 on Barnavave and Slieve Foye from Carlingford
This route mostly takes low gradient tracks to ascend to first Barnavave and then Slieve Foye.Ascending Barnavave from C| walk, Len: 9.8km, Climb: 684m, Area: Barnavave, Cooley/Gullion (Ireland) Barn ... Click here ...

NORTH: A journey into the mists of time.
Mythology, history and geology combine in Bunsen7’s extensive report on the wonders to be explored in the area of Barnavave in the Cooley Mountains.
Bunsen7 on Barnavave, (Bearna Mhéabha): Kerlingfjord
A number of years ago the BBC ran an Irish language show called "Ar Scath na Sleibhte", which provided a bit of inspiration for me to take a visit up to Carlingford, or "Carlainn" as I was to learn the Gaelic name to be. There are some clips and photos from the series still carried on the bbc website here (clips may not play in ROI):
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03fw143/p03fw10k
The seri ... ... Click here ...

NORTH: Easier access
Repair work on the Bluestack Way has made for easier access up Banagher Hill, reports Pepe, who enjoyed great views of Lough Eske and the Bluestack Range.
Pepe on Banagher Hill, (Cnoc Bheannchair): Better road surface - easier access now
Followed the Bluestack Way sign mentioned by Aidy. The road is well surfaced now, though narrow. Drove a couple of kilometres NW (ignoring lower-down parking areas) to a small plantation on the left. Drive on a 100 metres or so and you'll find a parking spot on your right. Walk back down that 100 metres of road to the corner of the plantation. Step over a little mountain brook and from there it's ... ... Click here ...

WEST: Eagle's eye view
Astounding scenery, megalithic mystery and great views of Eagle’s Rock are the rewards for an easy ascent of Slievecarran in The Burren, reports Damian120.
Damian120 on Slievecarran, (Sliabh Cairn): One of my favourites in the Burren
Slieve Carran is an easy enough climb but still offers up some astounding scenery overlooking Eagle's Rock. At the summit, there's a huge megalithic cairn that has never been excavated. Take your time walking across the limestone as it can be deceptive in many parts. ... Click here ...

WEST: Where Eagles Dare, or dare not
A legacy of access issues has left the Dartry Mountains much more mysterious than most Irish hills of their stature, and seemingly such issues haven't vanished entirely, based on ColinCallanan's ascent of Tievebaun. His visually arresting route also visits two separate versions of Eagles Rock, with local knowledge suggesting that the more dramatic incarnation is actually misnamed...all interesting stuff.
ColinCallanan on An enjoyable route up to Tievebaun with stunning views into Donegal.
This was a very enjayable walk. We started in the carpark which has an information board titled "Eagles rock".| walk, Len: 6.6km, Climb: 448m, Area: Tievebaun, Dartry Mountains (Ireland) Ti ... Click here ...

WEST: An exuberance of history and beauty
Foher Hill in Galway allows the walker to explore the region's rich and tragic famine history, while feasting one’s eyes on magnificent views, reports Damian 120.
Damian120 on Foher, (Fothair): Stunning g scenery overlooking Killary Fjord
Many of the locals often refer to it as Foher and it was featured in one of Lonely Planet's Ireland Travel Guides. The scenery in this part of Connemara is breathtaking and is easily one of the most scenic parts detouring off the Wild Atlantic Way via the N59 Road.
Good footwear is essential and it's about a 60-minute walk back to the few remaining stone cottages. At certain times of the year, ... ... Click here ...

Featured summit commentPersistence Pays: We all know that certain mountains hate being climbed. "Sometimes a hill doesn't like you," so ewen begins his recent January comment about Conavalla in County Wicklow. To discover more about Conavalla's reticence, read about ewen's several attempts to summit it here. [ED: Conavalla is the only place that I recall someone actually losing a boot to sucking bog.]

Sometimes a hill doesn't like youby ewen

Conavalla hates me. It really does. I finally reached the top on my fourth attempt. Three other attempts were thwarted by weather but I was going to beat it. Third attempt via Tomaneena and I was determined to get it.
The mountain threw everything it had. Mist, blizzard and bog all combined to try and make me turn back. At one point the ice broke on the bog and I sank over my knees. I got one leg out but the other was stuck fast. I had to sit down and dig out peat with my hands. I then crawled over cracking bog ice to a hag where I considered turning back. No, the top was only a few hundred metres and I did get it.
Returning to Lough Firrib, I took a wide detour to avoid the worst of the bog but Conavalla released her white out. Luckily I had GPS as well as my map so she let me proceed to Tomaneena and down to Wicklow gap.
The bog is a killer but I beat Conavalla.
SOUTH: Bogged down on the way up.
A cautionary tale of shortcuts from eamanoc, as he ascends the diminutive but attractive Carrigadav in Central Dingle.
group on Carrigadav: ... Click here ...

SOUTH: Kerry gold
Despite intemittent cloud cover, the ascent of Curra Hill near Glenbeigh is fantastic, with marvellous views of land and seascapes, says andreos97.
andreos97 on Curra Hill: Cloudy Climb
Fantastic walk, personally feel it's best starting your approach from Glenbeigh village and heading up through the forest (663 908) as it's quite well signposted. Once leaving the cover of the trees, we were very open to the elements but continued upwards roughly following the trail. We then continued over the top of the mountain and descended to (638 898). You can then turn right and walk down t ... ... Click here ...

EAST: Up the wall
Bunsen7 ignores the circuitous tracks and finds a relatively easy path up the little trodden Mount Kennedy in Wicklow, courtesy of a time-worn wall.
Bunsen7 on Mount Kennedy: Find the wall going north to south (or vice versa) over the summi
I had to laugh when I looked at the tracks on the site and compared it to my own from O2276 0476. If I were to upload it there would be three tracks all of which reached the summit but took an unnecessary detour to the west. I wasn't laughing while I was there admittedly, but don't look back in anger, they seem to say.
I think the reason for this detour is the track marked on the east-west map, ... ... Click here ...

EAST: Child’s play
Fananierin in Wicklow offers stunning views along Glenmalure, reputedly Ireland or Britain's longest glacial valley – and the walk up is mere kids' stuff reports Bunsen7.
Bunsen7 on Fananierin, (Fán an Fhearainn): Fantastic Views for Minimal Effort
On a clear day, surely this represents one of the best viewing points in Wicklow? The picture perfect vista down Glenmalure ensures it lives up to its billing as one of the longest glacial valleys in Britain and Ireland if not only in Ireland. An ambitious claim perhaps but one which the Wicklow tourist board are more than happy to advertise.
The track up from T102893 is not at all challenging bu ... ... Click here ...

MIDLANDS: Build a Beara
mlmoroneybb continues to chronicle his piecemeal walk along the length of the Beara-Briefne Way, a route that follows the incredible early-17th Century journey of O'Sullivan Beare and his followers (a flight memorably described in Dermot Somers' 'Endurance'). Dramatic it isn't, but there'll be few routes with as much of a sense of culture and history like this one does.
mlmoroneybb on Beara Breifne Way Day 22 Ballaghaderreen to Ballinafad
Beara Breifne Way Day 22 Ballaghaderreen to Ballinafad | walk, Len: 34.0km, Climb: 268m, Area: North Midlands (Ireland) ... Click here ...

MIDLANDS: Hillwalkers will not be shot
While making the short climb up Knockastia in the North Midlands, Member caedelle rests easy in the knowledge that hunting and shooting are forbidden, but not hillwalking apparently.
ceadeile on Knockastia: Hunting and shooting forbidden
The path described by FergalH is now, January 2018, very overgrown. There are many thorn bushes in particular which make it a somewhat dangerous for your eyes. A simpler approach is to park at the disused quarry gate at N24035 43266 and walk 100m NW along the road to N23968 43330 where a double locked gate has a sign saying that hunting and shooting are forbidden. So, secure in the knowledge that ... ... Click here ...

ENGLAND: Sour Times
With no high summits left for him in Ireland Onzy has turned his attention to the hills of England's Lake District, and in particular the 214 tops listed in Wainwright's sans pareil Guides. His route here takes in 3 of those summits, and 3 in an area that's not very stereotypically Lakeland in character, being a bit more Pennine than obviously aesthetic. An obvious extension would be to continue over the Ill Bell ridge to the north.
Onzy on Lake District: Above Troutbeck
Walk taking in 3 Wainwrights from Troutbeck, Sour Howes, Sallows and Troutbeck Tongue (not on this site). The extension| walk, Len: 13.8km, Climb: 721m, Area: Sour Howes, Lake District - Eastern Fell ... Click here ...

Sorry if we didn't mention what you posted .. there's a list of all contributors for recent months later.

Text: This book is definitely a keeper, a book I'll hang on to knowing I'll return to it again and again. I don't know who the genius is who came up with the concept of the Wild Atlantic Way (WAW) but they are a national treasure. You might regard the WAW as a marketing gimmick but so what life. The concept, basically a load of road signs, has brought huge business into some of the remotest communities in the country along the 2,500 km western seaboard from Cork to Donegal. This is a very fine guidebook. There is a huge amount of information packed into the books 224 pages. Clearly a vast amount of research went into the book. Most importantly the book is very readable. It is divided into chapters following the WAW from Kinsale up to Lough Foyle. There is lots of detail in the book about things to do - beaches, kayaking, looped walks, cycle routes, camping, horse riding etc. The book is very much aimed at the more active holiday maker. If you are looking for luxury hotels and fine dining then this might not be the book for you. The WAW isn't Route 66 and it's not about rushing from one end to the other. The book sensibly advises concentrating on one area and lingering there awhile. The book doesn't list everything you might see or do on the WAW, clearly that would take many volumes, but it's hard to fault the selection in the book. It's not an accommodation guide though it mentions a lot of campsites and hostels. The book is beautifully produced with a large number of fine photographs and useful outline maps. Well worth a look.

-- Aidan Dillon

MOTLEY GATHERING

The Summit Annual

We would like to acknowledge the many authors who responded to our call for material and contributed articles for the Annual in 2018:

We received a few articles that had themes explored elsewhere or were a bit late etc. At 58 pages, the magazine was even bigger than last year's and that was another consideration. So a few of the contributions were not used and will appear in forthcoming newsletters or quarterlies.

As editor can I say that it really is great to once again experience the community interest there is in contributing to a good quality publication.

A Hillwalking Committee for Mountaineering Ireland?

The Irish Ramblers Club is one of the largest and oldest hillwalking clubs in Ireland. With 10 or more walks organised per week it has a large programme. They have had an uneven relationship with Mountaineering Ireland and in fact withdrew for some years but then returned. Now they have put in the following motion to Mountaineering Ireland (MI) for consideration at the upcoming MI meet, Sat 24th March.

If you are one of the many hillwalkers that believe that the 85% majority of hillwalkers in MI could use better support, then do come along and vote for this motion. The proposed committee would take it's place alongside other MI committees such as the Climbing Committee and the Access & Conservation Committee. Remember, 18:00, 24th March 2018, Aherlow House Hotel, Glen of Aherlow, Co Tipperary.

That the Board of Mountaineering Ireland will create and support a Hillwalking Committee in recognition of the strategic importance of developing hillwalking. The Board will ensure that the committee has agreed terms of reference, support by all Mountaineering Ireland's media, coordination with clubs, support by the office and financial support.

Should any part of this motion, if passed, be in conflict or arguably in conflict with the Strategic Development Plan 2018- 2022 then, for the avoidance of doubt, the Board will ensure the plan and its actions will be amended to include the substance of the motion.

Accompanying Note:
This motion was created prior to the publication of the Strategic Development Plan 2018- 2022.

The proposers envisage a process that would include:

a) A working group of interested parties be created (not necessarily limited to the current Mountaineering Ireland membership) that will take submissions and propose an initial programme and terms of reference, and

b) We would envisage a period of several months where the terms of reference etc. are agreed.

Volunteering for 2018: Strengthening the MountainViews Committee

Currently we have a number of officers on the committee such as chairperson, secretary etc. We
really could use some further committee members to achieve our strategic goals and spread the
load.

Position

In Brief

Ordinary members

For those taking an interest in the MV committee or indeed committees in general we
can also use some further "regular" committee members without a specific role. There
are many smaller quite finite projects that might suit regular members.

Publicity

MountainViews is a great resource based on over 1300 people's contributions over 15 years. Great that is if you have heard of it. And that's where we could use some practical publicity help.

The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth

Quite apart from programmers, would you believe MV's progress can also use help from people who can really follow through on tasks like creating lists, checking stats, researching place names or geology. Whether on the committee or not we value such people's contributions.

Talks Group

Not strictly speaking part of the main committee but a position involved in finding and selecting interesting speakers and organising the three events we are running each year.

As we mentioned last month, we've been taking a look at the possibilities of creating a mobile phone App for use out on the hills.

Apart from the substantial technological challenge of doing this, there's a whole discussion as to what it would do. Is it for the support of general hillwalkers? or for summiteers? or for those wanting to use MV tracks in the hills?

We now have much better facilities for volunteer software developers. To support group software development various tools are required such as Version Control, Issue Handling, Documentation Repository. We have moved our version control from an earlier tool, SVN to Git and Gitlab. Latter mentioned tool also supports issue handling and documentation.

If you wish to discuss taking a hand and have skills useful to a website such as MountainViews, get in touch (with no committment) at admin -at- mountainviews.ie

A month to go to the first hillwalking calendar challenge and the excitement is building. A lot of secret training going on, so I hear.

Knockmealdowns, 2015

The marathon distance, across the way from the towering Galtys, on Slievenamuck organised by the Galtee Walking Club is first up. If you're setting yourself up for the Knockmealdown and Maamturks Challenges the following month you'd want to be knocking this one out of the ballpark - great distance with more than 1,000m gain on well marked tracks and trails.

Self-navigation and open mountain up next for the Peaks Mountaineering Club Knockmealdown Challenge on the 7th of April. The bus drops you off around Knockeenanooneen and you make your way to Newcastle village via 6/7 designated checkpoints over a distance of 31.5km and 1,350m height gain.

Lots of regulars on the 'waiting list' for a spot on the Maamturks Challenge a week later. Numbers were increased from 200 to 250 but there was still no problem in filling the quota. It's selling out every year so the sport and interest is growing. It's the one that 'everyone' wants to do because 'everyone' talks about it and it's just very hard. An hour taken off cut-off times this year so it will be interesting to see how that works out.

The Blackstairs and Tom Crean are also sold out.

There was a doubt about the Galtee Challenge going ahead but a meeting will be held see if it can be put on. That meeting will be open to members and non-members of the Galtee Walking Club. In previous years there was the Challenge and the Crossing. The Crossing was a led walk and it may well be that this is dropped and the self-navigation Challenge will still go ahead.

SUMMITEERS and PLACE-VISITORS CORNER
A place for those interested in Summiteering, Bagging, Highpointing, visiting islands and coastal places.

A Guide to Ireland's Mountain Summits - The Vandeleur-Lynams & The Arderins
MountainViews first book available online and in some bookshops. The first reprint with numerous
minor amendments is available.

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Bulk sales to groups such as Scouts/ Guides: contact admin@mountainviews.ie for a discounted price.

Summary.
MountainViews now has 8634 comments about 1628 different hills, mountains, island and coastal features out of the total in our current full list (2139). We want to get a good gps track showing each of the major ways to visit each of these places and summits in Ireland. If you see an option to add a "Short Summary" then do please consider creating one since another objective is to have a short summary for every summit and island and coastal feature in Ireland. There's a few (511) opportunities for you to be the first to comment on a summit, however lots of opportunities for islands and coastal features as we bring them out. We also have around 2000 shared GPS tracks, mostly in Ireland. Apart from a few popular areas, there is a need for more routes in many different areas. Plain shared tracks without descriptions are welcome however if you have time then do please add route descriptions with photos.

NOTICES

Notices

If you are contributing, please be careful to respect the interests of landowners.
Suggest access routes well away from houses, gardens or that could conceivably impact farming activities. When walking, keep away from gardens or farm buildings. Use stiles or gates wherever possible. Never do anything that could allow animals to roam where the farmer did not intend. Ask permission where appropriate.

Report suspicious activity to the police forces, as below.

If your car is broken into in an upland area report it to the PSNI or Gardai as this will help them be aware of the issue and tackle it in future. Store the numbers. In Northern Ireland use the PSNI non-emergency number 0845 600 8000. In the Republic you can find the local Garda District HQs phone numbers at www.garda.ie/Stations/Default.aspx. Specifically for the hotspot of Wicklow: the Garda Divisional Headquarters in Bray is 01 6665300.

If you hear of a problem area or route, write it up in MountainViews
which does everyone a service.
Report rubbish tipping in the Republic - ring EPA hotline 1850 365 121
Report recreational quads in national park area (in which they are banned). They are also banned in the Mournes. For Wicklow please phone the Duty Ranger: 087-9803899 or the office during office hours Telephone: +353-404-45800. For the Mournes ring the PSNI (as above) or contact Mournes Heritage Trust. Put these numbers in your phone, take regs etc. Let MV know of contact numbers for other areas.

If you have visited some of the less well known places, we would appreciate a place rating and also "Improve Grid Ref" for summits and other places.

If you find errors in the basic information about places such as in their names, their heights, county name etc please use the "Propose Places Database Change" option.

If we can, let's make MV have more than one route up a summit or to a place so as to reduce the tendency for paths to appear. Your grid refs in comments for different starting points show up on MountainViews maps as well as shared GPS tracks.

Click on https://mountainviews.ie (If you have cookies on in your browser then you will be prompted as to username/ password. If you forget the password, the login page can email you a replacement.)

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